NOTE: THE DEFINING
GENERATION is a project begun by Doug and Pam Sterner in 2002 and
completed in 2006. Initially is was prepared for publication as a book,
however with their changing focus to development of a database of military
awards, was postponed indefinitely so they could concentrate on that
larger, more important work. The stories found herein however, need to be
shared, and they have consented to make this compilation available in this
format. While each story can stand alone, it is recommended that for
continuity, readers will be best served by reading the chapters
sequentially from first to last.

The Defining
Generation

-

Defining the Role of
the Sexes

The Modern Woman in Combat

In the process of simply
doing their job, and doing it well, women in uniform slowly overcame
prejudice to prove their worth. Lieutenant General Mutter notes,
"Women have always felt compelled to do their part, to serve in
whatever way they could. It had nothing to do with wanting equality, but
everything to do with being equal to the task."

On December 20, 1989, U.S.
Forces launched Operation Just Cause, a military action to restore
order in Panama and depose and capture Manuel Noriega. Though women were
still prohibited from combat roles, expanding opportunities DID allow them
to serve in expanded positions that could place them in proximity to
combat. On that day Captain Linda L. Bray, U.S. Army, commanded the
123-member 988th Military Police Company that arrived in theater from Fort
Benning, Georgia. Ordered to capture a kennel that housed Panamanian
Defense Force guard dogs, she monitored the progress of a 30-soldier MP
force as they surrounded an enemy compound. When the Panamanian force
refused to surrender she ordered her men to fire warning shots. When the
enemy responded with return fire, Captain
Bray ordered discretionary combat fire to defend themselves while
preventing nearby innocents from being hit. By the time she arrived by
jeep to personally command her forces; most of the enemy had fled, though
she was subject to occasional sniper fire as she directed the securing of
the area. On that day, Captain Bray became the first woman in history to
command U.S. soldiers in a combat action.

Little more than a year
later, on January 16, 1991, American Forces again went to war, this time
against the army of Saddam Hussein. More than 40,000 military women were
deployed, many of them manning guns as Military Police and in other
supportive but non-combat Military Occupational Specialties. Others flew
combat support aircraft and not always in the back seat…many of them
were pilots. During that brief and decisively victorious war 16 women died
and two suffered as Prisoners of War.

In 1994 the Department of
Defense rescinded the "risk rule," a standard to determine in
which combat support roles a woman could serve. The intent was to keep
women from direct combat, in keeping with long-standing military
tradition, while reversing trends that had become so broad as to limit
what aircraft a woman could pilot, on which ships she might serve, or what
units she might command. While this DOD action still reserved such combat
assignments as Infantry, Artillery, etc. for men only, it did greatly
expand where and how women could serve.

Nearly a decade later
American forces returned to the Persian Gulf to again confront Saddam
Hussein and his tyrannical empire. On March 20, 2003, U.S. and Allied
combat forces crossed the border into Iraq to engage the enemy. Behind
them in their march on Baghdad rolled convoys of supply trucks, many of
them driven by armed young women soldiers assigned to combat support
roles. On March 23 one such convoy of the 507th Maintenance Company took a
wrong turn, was surrounded by enemy fighters, and engaged. Two young women
soldiers made history that day. Specialist Lori Ann Piestewa crashed her
truck into a pole and was mortally wounded by enemy fire, becoming the
first woman casualty in the Global War on Terrorism. Specialist Shoshana
Nyree Johnson survived the firefight despite bullet wounds to both ankles,
becoming the first Black female soldier in American history to suffer as a
Prisoner of War. Twenty days later she and six of her comrades were found
and rescued by U.S. Marines.

Not to be forgotten from
the battle of that date was the fate of Private First Class Jessica Lynch
who also survived the battle although injured. On April 1 she weakly
greeted a joint rescue force of U.S. Marines, Navy Seals, Army Rangers,
Air Force Pararescue Jumpers, and Delta Force with the simple statement,
"I'm a soldier too."

These and other young women
have proved they are equal to the task. As they establish their own
legacy, they owe the fact that they have this opportunity to those that
went before them, from the Molly Pitchers of the American Revolution to
civilian contract nurses of later wars, to Vietnam Veterans like Karen
Offutt and to peacetime achievers like Lieutenant General Carol Mutter.

As I have watched the news
over recent years, as young women in uniform acquit themselves well on the
field of battle, it has been with a mixture of both pride and
consternation. I've come a long way since 1969 when I would duck into a
building to avoid saluting a woman in uniform, but I'm still somewhat
"Old Fashioned."

In all honesty, the concept
of women in combat remains alien to my own thinking. Still, I won't
challenge those who support it, nor will you find me speaking out against
it. I simply leave it to the evolution of our society to determine when
and where women will find their own roles.

Early in 2006 as part of my
work to preserve the history of our heroes, I began establishing a digital
database of military heroes who had received some of our nation's highest
awards for valor. As I slowly typed the citations for awards of the Silver
Star, the military's third-highest award for valor, I ran across the name
of Sergeant Leigh Ann Hester. On
March 20, 2005, two years to-the-day after American combat forces invaded
Iraq; she became the first woman since World War II to receive the Silver
Star, and the first woman in any war to receive it for valor in a direct
combat action. Slowly, with my reservations about women in combat still
coloring my thoughts, I entered the words of her citation on my computer:

"For
exceptionally valorous achievement during Operation Iraqi Freedom.
Sergeant Leigh Hester's heroic actions during combat operations in
Iraq contributed to the overwhelming success of the Multi National
Corps-Iraq mission. While serving as the Team Leader for Raven 42B
in the 617th Military Police Company, Sergeant Hester led her
soldiers on a counterattack of anti Iraq forces (AIF) who were
ambushing a convoy with heavy AK-47 assault rifle fire, RPK
machine gun fire, and rocket propelled grenades. Sergeant Hester
maneuvered her team through the kill zone into a flanking position
where she assaulted a trench line with grenades and M-203 rounds.
She then cleared two trenches with her squad leader where she
engaged and eliminated three AIF with her M-4 rifle. Her actions
saved the lives of numerous convoy members. Sergeant Hester's
bravery is in keeping with the finest traditions of military
heroism and reflects distinct credit upon herself, the 503d
Military Police Battalion (Airborne), the 18th Military Police
Brigade, and the United States Army."

When
I had finished typing the citation I re-read the words on the screen,
still unsure how I felt about women in combat. Then, under my breath I
caught myself muttering, "Damn, now there's an NCO I would be proud
to follow anywhere!"

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS:
The authors extend our thanks to the following who granted personal
interviews for this work: Roger Donlon (MOH), Robin Moore,
Don Bendell, Jimmy Stanford, Vince Yrineo, Sammy L. Davis (MOH),
Linda Alvarado, Karen Offutt, Lieutenant General Carol Mutter, Sir
Edward Artis, General Colin L. Powell, Katharine Houghton, Adrian
Cronauer, Jan Scruggs, Delbert Schmeling, and Peter Lemon (MOH).Our thanks to the staff of the following who either wrote or
allowed reprint of their own works for this book: Dr.
Marguerite Guzman Bouvard, Don Bendell, Congressman Sam Farr,
Congressman Thomas Petri, Congressman Mike Honda, Congressman Jim
Walsh, Governor Jim Doyle, and Scott Baron.Our special thanks also to the staff of the following who provided
information and fact-checked the chapters related to their
subject: Staff of Senator John Kerry, Staff of (then) Senator
Hillary Clinton, Staff of Senator Jim Webb
A SPECIAL THANKS also to Dr. Marguerite Guzman Bouvard for his
assistance in writing and editing the entire section on the Role of
the Sexes.